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Re: how to distinguish between /dz/ and /z/

I've never heard of a 'bez' (although I've heard that syllable, in words like "embezzle"). Perhaps the pair you meant was "beads/bees".

The word 'sans' was OK for Shakespeare in the meaning 'without' - but not pronounced in the French way; it was /sænz/; and it occurs in font-names such as 'MS Sans' (more generally, 'sans serif' - which is pronounced in the same [Anglo-Saxon] way by typesetters, printers and editors, although it may recently have been frenchified by the popularity of desktop publishing.

And, to answer your more recent question, he'd be very unlikely to degrade you, though he might - I suppose - downgrade you ( - if the confusion of the two phonemes caused a problem of communication). It would probably depend on how he was feeling. In any case, it wouldn't be as dramatic as from A to B - if this slight flaw in your accent was added to others, and to other problems (to do with grammar, vocabulary, etc...), it might possibly make a difference that could take you 'over the borderline' from a low A to a high B; but that one problem alone couldn't make such a big difference. (Warning: I've had no contact with exams like this; I'm only saying what I would see as reasonable.)

b

Last edited by BobK; 02-Oct-2008 at 13:14.
Reason: Added last sentence

Re: how to distinguish between /dz/ and /z/

Originally Posted by enydia

A shame-making question:
If I take a speaking test, will a native-speaking examiner degrade me from A to B just because I mistake /dz/ for /z/?

Do you mean a listening test?
In a speaking test, you will say /dz/.
I doubt you'd lose a full grade for getting one phoneme wrong.
Even if native speakers produce a muted /d/ here, the word is usually understandable from the context.

Re: how to distinguish between /dz/ and /z/

Originally Posted by Raymott

Do you mean a listening test? [Actually, I'm worrying about both a listening and a speaking test. -_-!]
In a speaking test, you will say /dz/.
I doubt you'd lose a full grade for getting one phoneme wrong.
Even if native speakers produce a muted /d/ here, the word is usually understandable from the context.